Significant price volatility occurred in New South Wales and Queensland throughout November. Prices exceeded $10,000/MWh on seven days in New South Wales and five days in Queensland, totaling four hours and 2.5 hours respectively. These high prices were driven by transmission outages, coal unit outages, and high demand driven by hot weather – with the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) declaring spring 2024 as the hottest on record for Australia.
The impact of these tighter supply/demand conditions during November led to average prices in New South Wales increasing three times the October average, and 2.5 times higher for Queensland. The southern states had much lower prices, with average prices in Victoria and South Australia for the month approximately one third of the prices in New South Wales and Queensland.
According to the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), the ‘summer’ risk period runs through to the end of March. This period has a higher likelihood of heat waves which drives high peak demands from cooling loads and increase the risk of fossil generation failure. Electricity consumers who can reduce their electricity consumption during peak demand and price periods, help to keep the electricity system secure. With an electricity plan such as Flow Power’s, customers who can reduce usage in peak periods can also realise significant savings in their electricity costs.
Electricity price insights
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